Software applications that provide interactive displays are commonly known and widely used in business environments. A frequently used technique for the business application is a drop down control. The control often provides clues and/or required choices for entry into a specified field.
In Windows and OS/2 operating system applications, drop down controls are activated by selecting an arrow in the right hand corner. A drop down list is then displayed for user selection. The selection is made by clicking on the appropriate choice. As soon as the choice is made, the list is hidden and the choice is displayed in the text box. The list may have scroll bars if there are too many items for display in a single view.
The MacIntosh operating system uses a similar technique called PopUp buttons. By pressing and holding the mouse button, a list is displayed. As long as the mouse button is depressed, the list remains visible. By scrolling the mouse pointer down the list, the user can make a selection. Once the proper choice is highlighted, the mouse button is released and the selection is made.
Regardless of whichever technique is used, if the list of choices becomes too long, the practicality of the drop down list is reduced. In fact, at some point it may become necessary to create additional drop down controls to hold the extra choices. Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus which allows a category of choices in a drop down control in order to save valuable screen space and user time.